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This chapter makes use of Buddhist and Neo-Confucian parallels: ‘there is a universal mind in which all sages participate, be they from east, south, west or north, past or future’. It hopes that it makes this view seem plausible, in both its literal and metaphorical sense. The chapter then follows Alexander of Aphrodisias in identifying poetic nous with the Prime Mover. The intuition of the world as a unitary whole reveals the nature of things and gives only deathlessness. In this, Aristotle is at one with the doctrines of Ch'an Buddhism. Theoria, theo-ria, is the practice of enlightenment.

This chapter makes use of Buddhist and Neo-Confucian parallels: ‘there is a universal mind in which all sages participate, be they from east, south, west or north, past or future’. It hopes that it makes this view seem plausible, in both its literal and metaphorical sense. The chapter then follows Alexander of Aphrodisias in identifying poetic nous with the Prime Mover. The intuition of the world as a unitary whole reveals the nature of things and gives only deathlessness. In this, Aristotle is at one with the doctrines of Ch'an Buddhism. Theoria, theo-ria, is the practice of enlightenment.